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When I first started designing my office in my head a few months back, I knew that I wanted a chair inspired by this image. The grey wool and nice modern shape had me at hello. And it literally goes with every type of wood. So when I saw this chair from Room & Board…

….I knew it was the one! The Nico office chair offers tons of comfort without losing style. It’s a tailored office piece with style and beauty.

Lucky for one you, Room & Board is giving one Nico office chair away to an SG reader! Just simply leave a comment below and I will choose a winner after the weekend is over. I hope you win because you will LOVE IT!

Hi friends! This past Friday I shared my bedroom makeover on Martha Stewarts Instagram (here, here and here). I took our small space and tried to create cozy, serene bedroom. We painted the wall Tricorn Black from Sherwin Williams. The gold sconces from Schoolhouse Electric pop against the black.

I found some awesome vintage floral prints at a local antique shop, which look great against the black. Also, I love the grid pillow from Pencil Me In, sold on Society6.

Now lets talk about this quilt….HELLO! It’s my favorite detail in the room. You will find these contemporary quilts at Louise Gray. I chose No. 3 because of the peach and navy. I’m obsessed with both of these colors! I really do recommend these quilts for any home!

Because we live in a 1947 bungalow, storage is non existent. So we created some storage that can be seen and not ugly to the naked eye. For example, I took a rolling clothing rack and displayed all of my hanging shirts. I color coordinated them so that it looks a little more stylish. And it actually helps me to pick out what I want to wear when it’s all color coordinated.

And finally, I was able to frame an art piece that my daughter created with Framed & Matted EXPRESS. A new custom framing option, Framed & Matted EXPRESS offers custom frames at an amazing low price for simple framing needs. You choose between 4 frame sizes, 2 frame colors and a custom cut mat to fit your need. It’s brilliant and EASY!

As I promised, here are more pics of my finished studio. Can I just say that this place is such a blessing to me! I have worked from home for years, so to be able to escape to a different location is heaven. It’s not a large space by any means but it’s perfect for me and my assistant. I’m also in walking distance from tons of restaurants and coffee shops so I never go hungry.

Before

Before

When we first moved in, we had layers of OLD smelly wallpaper to remove. THAT WAS FUN! After we removed the paper, we painted the walls in Sherwin-Williams Extra White SW 7006, which immediately brightened up the space and allowed the brick to shine. (Sources listed below.)

After walls were painted, I tried painting the subfloors white….horrible decision! It continued to turn yellow because of the soft wood. So I chose these Whiteside Embossed Laminate Wood Planks from Lowes. I wanted a white washed look that was super durable. These floors are perfect for that! (Sources listed below.)

I’ve Instagrammed about these mākgoods triangles in the past. They are one of my favorite details in the office! The great thing about these triangles is that you can arrange them however you want. You could even paint them! mākgoods also offers hexagon and square kits. I love them so much that we are giving away two kits to two different readers! Read below for more info.

To celebrate the studio, mākgoods is giving away two kits to two separate individuals! You can choose between triangle, square or hexagon. Simply leave a comment below to enter! And for an extra entry, follow me on Instagram and Facebook. Leave a comment on both for me to know that you’re following Simply Grove.

Hi friends! My studio is DONE!!! I’m over on Room & Board’s blog dishing out about my new studio and life in general. You can read the interview here and see what furniture pieces I chose from Room & Board. Actually, I’ll tell you now what I chose… Ventura table, Nico office chairs and Soria Floor lamp! All three of these items made my studio SO COOL!! I’ll be posting more images and sources soon!

How many gallons of paint have we all used in our lifetime? Hundreds? Some of us thousands? I don’t even want to begin to calculate the amount of paint that I have used in my life. And then there’s the color choices………oh my gosh. When Shane and I were first married, I decided to paint our first little house in every color of the brown rainbow. Brown red, brown green, poop brown. WHYYYYYYYYY??? The good news is, paint can cover paint! If you’ve made a bad paint decision, you can cover it in a flash!

I’ve recently partnered with Benjamin Moore to transform a 1910 home that my cousins just moved into and create a soothing, modern space. The paint is not horrible by any means. It just needs some freshening up! We are going to use Benjamin Moore’s Aura Interior. Aura is the ultimate in performance and color vitality. Aura brings you richer, truer color that’s available in thousands of colors. It’s ideal for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, foyers, kitchens and hallways. It’s available in four premium finishes: Matte, Eggshell, Satin and Semi-Gloss. We are going to use Eggshell. This paint is also considered an environmentally friendly paint, which I’m all about!

So the plan is to paint the foyer, living room and dining room. I chose Midnight Oil, 1631 in Eggshell and Decorators White, CC-20 in Eggshell. It’s going to look so pretty! I’ll post images of the after in the next few weeks so stay tuned.

Hi Friends! The farmhouse bathroom that I designed earlier this year is a finalist in the 2015 Remodelista Design Awards! I’m pretty proud of this project and I love the homeowners dearly. So if you have a moment anytime of the week from now until August 15th, can you vote for us, pretty please?? You can actually vote daily………..too much? Ok, I’ll take anything! Go here to vote. You’ll find the bathroom in the professional bath category. You’re all my favorite!

I’m in this crazy season of constantly being on my computer. Whether it’s writing a blog post, writing notes concerning my book or editing images for a guest article, I am always looking at a computer screen. And if you know me or know any other creative, if a computer looks cool, we feel like we’re getting more done. Or something like that?!:) I have some simple ideas for how how stay organized and on task, which can be hard when you have Facebook staring at you to get lost in it.

1. I’m big on using apps that keep me organized. A few I like are Evernote, Asana (puts tasks and conversations in one place), iDone This (the best checkoff list), 24me (auto generates reminders) and Wunderlist.

2. I take periodical walks to get the blood flowing and my mind re-charged. Because I work near lots of coffee shops, it’s an easy walk to take.

3. I only allow myself to look at Facebook ONCE a day! Haha. Seriously though. It’s too distracting.

4. I set a timer for when I want to finish a certain project. If the timer goes off and you’re not done, you lose…hahaha.

5. I keep snacks around me so I never stop working because of hunger. Almonds and trail mix are easy to have accessible.

It’s hard being self employed on a computer all day, but it’s possible!

A big reason of why I’m loving the new HP Pavilion 17″ Notebook, which is sold exclusively at HSN, is it feels like a motivating tool with all of the details that I need for my business. In partnering with HP, I quickly learned that this was a very easy Notebook to love! Why buy buy HP at HSN? Because the screen is massive, it runs on Windows 10 operating system, comes in 5 cool colors, a Bang & Olufsen audio built-in and the storage is crazy with 2 TB of storage. And it’s also a touch screen, which I naturally caught on to, even with a large screen. The HP Pavilion was an easy switch for me from my previous notebook. And the best part is the price point! Perfect for the struggling artsy heartsy.

I recently received an email from a reader who needed some advice on how to decorate around a TV. He wrote me saying, “I was wondering if you have plans to feature design inspiration, or how-to’s for televisions. In all these mid-century styled home, and modern style homes the TV is rarely featured, but it’s something people use everyday”. I TOTALLY agree! In most styled spaces, the TV somehow disappears. It is a hard accessory to decorate around, but it’s possible! Below are some simple tricks to decorate around your TV.

My most favorite way to decorate around a television is to include it in an art gallery (like seen above). Use a variety of sized frames but make sure that there are frames that are larger than the TV. Using black frames also allows the TV to disappear a bit. Also a college of photos and interesting prints remove the focus of the TV.

I think the number one key for decorating around a TV is keeping things clean and minimal. Also when the media console/buffet is awesome, you forget how big and shiny the TV is. TV’s will never go away so we might as well embrace them!

I have to admit to you something. I am fiercely in love with a clean space. I can’t think clearly if my home is a mess. In fact, if I wasn’t an interior stylist, I would be a home organizer/cleaner. It brings me great joy to clean my bathroom and make it sparkly clean. I may be weird but I’m proud of being OCD clean! Haha. I have friends that are as equally in love with a clean space but they’re not in to doing it themselves, which is totally fine! In fact, that’s normal, right? I always tell them that there is no condemnation. We all have things that we are good at and we must embrace those things in our lives.

I have a few favorite tips and tricks that ANYONE can apply to their space. When it comes to cleaning, it’s always better to do a little everyday. That way you won’t be having to deal with a large mess weekly. Here are my tricks of the trade.

+ Cleaning Wipes are straight from heaven. I always keep cleaning wipes in my bathroom to wipe down the counter and toilet each morning. It saves me SO MUCH TIME!

+ Keeping a lightweight, wood floor/carpet vacuum on hand will make your life easy peasy. I literally use mine daily just to keep things tidy and clean.

+ Vinegar should be your best friend. You can use it literally for everything! My favorite way to use vinegar for is to clean my floors. To wash no-wax floors, add ½ cup of white distilled vinegar to a half-gallon of warm water. Window cleaning with vinegar will make your windows sparkle and will not leave the usual film or streaks on the glass. Mix equal parts of white distilled vinegar and warm water. Dry with a soft cloth. You can also use vinegar to get stains out, clean your fridge, deodorize your garbage drain…and the list goes on!

+ A shower scrub free spray will keep your shower fresh and clean. And it will save you from having to scrub all of the time. I spray down my shower every single day, directly following my shower. It takes seconds and will leave your shower smelling fresh and clean.

+ Don’t forget about microfiber dusters. It really does the job efficiently and it’s so easy. No more dust bunnies! I tend to dust weekly and sometimes even more frequent. I hate dust. If you can dust and vacuum around the same time, these two tasks will start going hand in hand in your mind.

+ Lint rollers are a great option to clean dust and pet hair off of hard to reach or vacuum places. I use my lint roller on lampshades, sofa, doggie bed and other awkward shaped places.

+If it’s hard for you to focus when cleaning, set a time for 30 minutes and compete with yourself to see if you can finish all of your tasks within that time period.

So when it’s time for you to clean shop, apply these tips and you will not feel overwhelmed. I promise! And if you need some more cleaning ideas, check out these tips to help you clean your bathroom more efficiently from the cleaning experts at The Maids, with whom I’ve teamed up with for this post.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen that I started a hashtag, #simplystyleyourspace. I started it as a way for anyone to showcase their styling and designing talent, and a way for our creative juices to start flowing. Everyone is different and everyone has a slightly different aesthetic, which is the best part! This first round was all about how you style your coffee table. Above you can see the creativity shining through. The next round starts this week so if you want to participate, follow along my Instagram.

The greatest way to add some major character to a space is by adding molding. It instantly takes a blank slate and makes it cool and dignified. I love the juxtaposition of modern and classic. Adding molding to a modern space gives the illusion of maturity and character. Here are a few molding and trim ideas to create this look.

+ Baseboards are of course a must! Starting at the floor, baseboards are the visual foundation for a room.

+ Casings is the trim that wraps from one side of the wall to the other It defines the opening and protects the wall surface from scratches.

+ Crown Molding is itself a game changer. Adding it to the top of the room can add grandness.

+ Finishing Touches can include painting moldings the same color as the wall but in a semigloss enamel finish. This trick makes a room feel larger.

I was looking over my Pinterest page and I noticed a common theme….GREEN. I love green! Remember the One Room Challenge? That was one of my favorite green walls! Below are a few other ways to use the color green in your space-

+ Paint an accent wall green.

+ Use plants to add green.

+ Paint one furniture piece a bold green.

+ Use green tiles in your bathroom.

+Add green in fabrics.

In honor of my love for green, here are a few inspiring green spaces. Maybe the more I use green in decor, the more chances I will get of inheriting a green thumb!!

Happy Thursday! And happy “my daughters birthday”! This month is birthday month for my family and party central…:)

I’m hoping to talk my hubby into painting our bedroom a deep shade of gray/black this weekend, like this or this. My bedroom needs major help and has been ignored for TOO LONG. Which goes against everything that I believe! Haha. I alway tell clients to create a beautiful master bedroom that they can escape to. And here I am living in everything but that! So hopefully that will change this weekend. This bedroom (above) is a perfect example of what I want to achieve.

Pops of color are really my favorite way to decorate. Whether it’s one bold color or several soft colors, I think that there is something so serene about only using moments of color. Now don’t get me wrong, using lots of color can be beautiful in it’s own right. But sometimes it’s refreshing to tone down a bit. This house tour has a few moments of color, including that awesome punch of yellow in the sofa. See the entire tour here.

This is for all of my Instagram friends! I want to start a fun new hashtag ‪#‎simplystyleyourspace‬ for you to showcase styled areas of your personal home that you are proud of! Let’s start with COFFEE TABLES! Style your coffee table, snap a pic and use hashtag #simplystyleyourspace on Instagram. This is meant to be fun! Show us your creativity. I’ll Instagram some of my faves!